investec btr

New broker report on btr web site..

here's a little bit of a taste , read the last couple lines..

Solid hit, may be a classic.

Infill drilling at the Kitumba prospect (Mumbwa project) in Zambia (BTR, 100%) has
revealed the highest grade intersection to date of 231m @ 4.5% Cu, including 17m
@ 14.9% Cu (S36_033). Combined with other recent results, it now appears BTR
has an economic copper project on their hands, as part of a large regional
tenement package with good potential for other discoveries. Whilst there is still a
lot of work to do to establish potential mine economics, we believe the recent
drilling is likely to see an increase to the grade of the resource, though many
questions still remain. We have upgraded our valuation of BTR and maintain a Buy.

Mumbwa Project, Zambia (BTR, 100%)
? The aim of the A$6m drilling program (now >80% complete) is to revise the
resource category (potential grade/size increase) and drill test new anomalies
identified. Assays released to date suggest a significant grade increase in the
resource is likely. The existing JORC resource of 87mt @ 0.94% Cu (including
22mt @ 1.73% Cu) at Kitumba may grow towards 100mt @ >1% (1mt
contained Cu) or ~20mt @ 2.5% in our view. This assumption is high risk.
? The deposit appears oxidised to a fair depth (300m) with iron enrichment and
weathering resulting in some very high (supergene) grades. Distribution of
copper minerals is not widely understood, but is believed to include chalcocite,
chalcopyrite, malachite and some native copper. Further drilling to confirm
previous results is planned, and initial metallurgical testwork is underway. BHP
held the view the deposit has similar characteristics to Olympic Dam.

? We anticipate both open cut (OC) and underground (UG) scenarios will be
given consideration in scoping and feasibility work.


we have evaluated two conceptual scenarios, both underground and open
cut. Both options have significant lead times. A decline over 1km long is
potentially required for the UG, and a large (>50mt) pre-strip for the OC. The
capital cost of an UG is likely to be cheaper than OC, however production (at
2mtpa) would be up to 60ktpa contained copper compared to 100ktpa under
an 8mtpa OC scenario. In addition, operating cost would be higher (up to
US$60/t compared to a capital cost of 8mtpa OC project. Under operating licence conditions, BTR need to convert to
a mining lease by November, 2013. Indicative conceptual mining scenarios are show below:



Cameo dyor